GunnerBill Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 While I am sure Beane and McDermott will ask any player they consider who opted out why they took that decision my view is they will never knock a guy for making a decision in the best interests of his family. That just doesn't seem to reflect who they have been. If a guy says to them "look, I have the opportunity by getting drafted to change the lives of my family forever and in a situation where there was so much unknown about the year I just couldn't risk that, I owed it to make the best decision for them" I can't see Beane and McDermott taking a guy off the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJBobby Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 1 minute ago, GunnerBill said: While I am sure Beane and McDermott will ask any player they consider who opted out why they took that decision my view is they will never knock a guy for making a decision in the best interests of his family. That just doesn't seem to reflect who they have been. If a guy says to them "look, I have the opportunity by getting drafted to change the lives of my family forever and in a situation where there was so much unknown about the year I just couldn't risk that, I owed it to make the best decision for them" I can't see Beane and McDermott taking a guy off the board. Yep easy answer. Player X “why did you opt out” player X “it was the best decision for my family, there is a global pandemic that affects everyone why add risk to my family. I understand I could have possibly hurt my draft prospects and it was painful not playing but the health of my family was the driving factor” BOOM any answer that includes Family and how it hurt not playing will convince any GM. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern_Bills Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 42 minutes ago, MJS said: I just don't think it is wise to make judgements on players who opted out, even if they were perfectly healthy and had no underlying conditions. We were dealing with a worldwide pandemic. It's perfectly natural for many of those players to be scared and uncertain about what playing would mean. And how would you determine which guys just wanted a free pass and which ones had legitimate concerns, as if anyone falls neatly into those buckets anyway? To me, that just comes down to intelligence. If a guy is dumb enough to say he sat out because of his draft value, and posted about that on social media, or other selfish concerns, you pass on that guy because he is an idiot, not because he is selfish. Because if those are the true reasons, you lie and just say you did it because of health and family concerns. For the record I don't think any player would say they opted out because their value was high. But if he couldn't play ball because he was concerned for his health but his twitter/facebook/tiktok etc has him at large gatherings for recreational fun, its safe to say the health concerns were not the actual reason he sat out. In short, he's a liar. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnerBill Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 7 minutes ago, MAJBobby said: Yep easy answer. Player X “why did you opt out” player X “it was the best decision for my family, there is a global pandemic that affects everyone why add risk to my family. I understand I could have possibly hurt my draft prospects and it was painful not playing but the health of my family was the driving factor” BOOM any answer that includes Family and how it hurt not playing will convince any GM. Agree. Clearly they will want to interpret answers but McDermott and Beane are firmly family first people. They talk about it constantly. If they believe a guy was looking out for his family's best interests I very much doubt that them opting out has any impact on their draft stock in the Bills' eyes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireChans Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 18 minutes ago, MAJBobby said: Yep easy answer. Player X “why did you opt out” player X “it was the best decision for my family, there is a global pandemic that affects everyone why add risk to my family. I understand I could have possibly hurt my draft prospects and it was painful not playing but the health of my family was the driving factor” BOOM any answer that includes Family and how it hurt not playing will convince any GM. Counterpoint: Some prospects SUCK at interviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJBobby Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 3 minutes ago, FireChans said: Counterpoint: Some prospects SUCK at interviews. Then they would suck at interviews explaining an opt out or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannc Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 2 hours ago, whorlnut said: For clarity purposes, I just want to say that I’m talking about players in the draft. There were reasons other than health that guys like Sewell and Chase opted out. Those guys had little to prove and, in Sewell’s case at least, they may have viewed the 2020 college season as a farce, which it clearly was in the PAC 12. It was in most cases a strategic decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBonhamRocks Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 I only want players willing to literally die for a game of football 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJS Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 1 hour ago, Doc said: I want players who love the game so much that they'd be willing to take the chance playing through an unprecedented (for the vast majority of humans) pandemic. Maybe it's an unfair judgment but that's how I feel. I do think that is unfair. But you have to freedom to believe how you want. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireChans Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 1 hour ago, MJS said: I do think that is unfair. But you have to freedom to believe how you want. I mean, if it’s a push between two prospects, would you take the guy who didn’t opt out or the guy who did? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnerBill Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 9 minutes ago, FireChans said: I mean, if it’s a push between two prospects, would you take the guy who didn’t opt out or the guy who did? I'd find another way of settling the matter. Generally when it is a push between two prospects I'd revert to which is a position of need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJS Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 36 minutes ago, FireChans said: I mean, if it’s a push between two prospects, would you take the guy who didn’t opt out or the guy who did? I just wouldn't have that be a part of the evaluation process at all. You still do your due diligence into their character and off the field demeanor. I don't think opting out shows anything that would not be dug up during your normal evaluation process. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnerBill Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 11 minutes ago, MJS said: I just wouldn't have that be a part of the evaluation process at all. You still do your due diligence into their character and off the field demeanor. I don't think opting out shows anything that would not be dug up during your normal evaluation process. Agree. IF you have a guy who opted out and your background checks are "not sure how much football really means to him, don't know how committed he'd be once he gets paid" etc then it is confirmation of a red flag. If the background check is "man this kid is a great kid, great teammate, he took that decision really serious but he put his family above football" then I don't think it makes any difference. Remember the Bills own all pro very seriously considered not playing the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_In_NH Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 I don’t thinks it’s a big factor to Beane or McDermott. A pandemic happens once in a lifetime. When opt outs happened there were a lot of unknowns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_In_NH Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 The option to opt out was agreed to between the teams and the players association. They don’t need a particular good reason, it could be personal. It was their option, now it’s in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BADOLBILZ Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 7 hours ago, whorlnut said: For clarity purposes, I just want to say that I’m talking about players in the draft. You don't get to 40K posts by actually reading posts you are responding to. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock'em Sock'em Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 (edited) Fix all of the variables except for opting out and contracting covid. player A - did not opt out, did not contract covid, shown on social media living life. player B - did not opt out, did contract covid, shown on social media living life. player C - did opt out, did not contract covid, shown on social media living life. player D - did opt out, did contract covid, shown on social media living life. They all play the same position, they all had equal reasoning to opt out, and all projections are equal. I would definitely draft A first and D last. I'm honestly not sure about B vs. C. To me, there is some value where a player makes sacrifices to play. And there is also some value in proving to be successful (with your health). Edited March 29, 2021 by Rock'em Sock'em Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 9 hours ago, MAJBobby said: Yep easy answer. Player X “why did you opt out” player X “it was the best decision for my family, there is a global pandemic that affects everyone why add risk to my family. I understand I could have possibly hurt my draft prospects and it was painful not playing but the health of my family was the driving factor” BOOM any answer that includes Family and how it hurt not playing will convince any GM. Agree but I think the point is whether there is anything out there on social media or talking to contacts that would indicate the above might not be sincere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paup 1995MVP Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 10 hours ago, MAJBobby said: Yep easy answer. Player X “why did you opt out” player X “it was the best decision for my family, there is a global pandemic that affects everyone why add risk to my family. I understand I could have possibly hurt my draft prospects and it was painful not playing but the health of my family was the driving factor” BOOM any answer that includes Family and how it hurt not playing will convince any GM. What does the health of one's family have anything to do with playing college football? Football players are far away from their family on campus. They are not living at home. So not sure what that has to do with any of it. My kid played college football last season. He wasn't worried about the health of his family. He was worried as was his family about him rehabbing his knee to be able to play again after a serious injury at the start of the 2019 season. (Fortunately he came back strong) Amazing that the pandemic is still a topic for discussion on any level. As for Star he missed out on one hell of a 2020 Bills season. But hey if he comes back and plays well, I welcome him back opt out or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJBobby Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 6 hours ago, Paup 1995MVP said: What does the health of one's family have anything to do with playing college football? Football players are far away from their family on campus. They are not living at home. So not sure what that has to do with any of it. My kid played college football last season. He wasn't worried about the health of his family. He was worried as was his family about him rehabbing his knee to be able to play again after a serious injury at the start of the 2019 season. (Fortunately he came back strong) Amazing that the pandemic is still a topic for discussion on any level. As for Star he missed out on one hell of a 2020 Bills season. But hey if he comes back and plays well, I welcome him back opt out or not. Because they go home. Parents come to games. Some still live with parents or close to home. So year family has to do with a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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